Editing Mary McAleese (section)

==LGBT advocacy==

===Background===

In 1975, McAleese and [[David Norris (politician)|David Norris]] founded the [[Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform]]. McAleese was its legal advisor from 1975 until 1979 when she joined [[RTÉ]] as a current affairs journalist.

In a 2008 biography, McAleese explained that she first became aware of the plight of gay people as a student in San Francisco in the early 1970s.  She was 21 and studying law at [[Queen's University Belfast]]. Her job involved preparing food for airlines; a supervisor, "a charming, lovely man", told her he was gay. They had become friends. He was wounded by being rejected by his family. She recalled, "at school or university I was never aware of ever meeting a gay person, such were the taboos at the time. As a heterosexual, I had wondered what it must be like for those who are outside the mainstream, the self-discovery, when you can reveal it to no one." That man was her introduction to the reality. "When I came back to Ireland I made it my business to do something about it," she said.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | title=Mary McAleese: A long-time advocate for gay people | newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=14 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814200111/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===During Presidency===

In 2008, McAleese addressed a gay youth forum in Galway and encouraged people to confront those who make anti-gay remarks. McAleese said that being gay was "not a choice but a discovery".<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/confront-those-who-make-anti-gay-remarks-president-tells-youth-forum-1.903278 |title = Confront those who make anti-gay remarks, President tells youth forum| newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] }}</ref>

In 2010, McAleese addressed the LGBT Diversity National Conference in Dublin. She said "The toxic attitudes which were heard in homes, streets, workplaces even in schools and churches caused untold suffering and nothing is surer than the fact that those attitudes can have and will have no place in the Ireland we are building, for they belong in the same toxic waste dump along with sexism, racism, sectarianism and all those other contrary forces which would diminish the innate dignity, freedom and nature of the human person, reduce their life chances and opportunities and consign them to half-lived lives.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.president.ie/en/media-library/speeches/remarks-by-president-mcaleese-at-the-lgbt-diversitys-national-conference-fo | title=Media Library &#124; Speeches &#124; President of Ireland}}</ref>

In 2011, McAleese declined an invitation to be the New York City St Patrick's Day parade Grand Marshall. LGBT people were banned from marching in the parade under LGBT banners.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mcaleese-declines-nyc-grand-marshal-invite-103514544-237717601| title=President Mary McAleese declines St. Patrick's Day NYC Grand Marshal invite| date=22 September 2010| access-date=27 November 2019| archive-date=13 December 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213131011/https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mcaleese-declines-nyc-grand-marshal-invite-103514544-237717601| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Male suicide===

In a radio interview discussing her book ''Quo Vadis? Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law'' on 28 September 2012, said she was concerned at the growing number of young men, and in particular young gay men, who take their own lives in Ireland. She said that when the research is broken down, it shows that young gay men are one of the most risk-prone groups in Ireland. McAleese said many of these young men will have gone to Catholic schools and they will have heard there their church's attitude to homosexuality. "They will have heard words like 'disorder', they may even have heard the word 'evil' used in relation to homosexual practice," she said. She went on to say "And when they make the discovery, and it is a discovery and not a decision, when they make the discovery, that they are gay, when they are 14, 15 or 16, an internal conflict of absolutely appalling proportions opens up". She said many young gay men are driven into a place that is "dark and bleak". McAleese said she met the Apostolic Nuncio, [[Archbishop]] [[Charles John Brown]], shortly after Easter to raise with him her concern about the growing number of suicides among young men in Ireland.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0928/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-homosexuality.html|title=McAleese critical of Catholic view on homosexuals|date=28 September 2012|work=RTÉ.ie|access-date=15 March 2018|language=en|archive-date=4 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104180102/http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0928/mary-mcaleese-catholic-church-homosexuality.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Marriage equality referendum===

In May 2015, in advance of the [[Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|marriage equality referendum]], McAleese described same-sex marriage as a "human rights issue" as she and her husband Martin called for a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum. In her first public comments on the issue, McAleese said the vote next month is "about Ireland's children, gay children" and said passing the referendum would help dismantle the "architecture of homophobia". She also highlighted the problems in Ireland of suicide among young males. "We now know from the evidence that one of the risk groups within that age cohort of 15–25 is the young male homosexual. We owe those children a huge debt as adults who have opportunities to make choices that impact their lives, to make the right choices, choices that will allow their lives to grow organically and give them the joy of being full citizens in their own country."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-calls-for-yes-vote-in-marriage-referendum-1.2174316|title=Mary McAleese calls for Yes vote in marriage referendum|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=15 March 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520035030/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/mary-mcaleese-calls-for-yes-vote-in-marriage-referendum-1.2174316|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dublin Pride===

In June 2018, McAleese attended Dublin Pride for the first time along with her husband, son Justin and his husband Fionán Donohoe. This theme was 'We Are Family', and was a reference to Pope Francis' 2018 visit to Ireland for the Catholic World Meeting of Families. Speaking at the parade she said: "Homophobia is evil. It ruins people's lives, it has ruined families' lives, it has caused people to commit suicide, it has caused people to live in dark shadows, so unsure of themselves," she said.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44670362|title = McAleese and son march in Dublin Pride|work = BBC News|date = 30 June 2018|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 1 October 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201001220057/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44670362|url-status = live}}</ref>

===LGBT recognition===

In 2011, McAleese received the GALA Political Figure Award.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.galas.ie/winners-2011?lightbox=dataItem-j66o2na4 | title=Winners 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2016, McAleese received the "Ally of the year" award from GALA's.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://gcn.ie/33854/|title = The GALAs 2016: The Complete Winners List • GCN|date = March 2016|access-date = 27 November 2019|archive-date = 27 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191127181339/https://gcn.ie/33854/|url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2016, McAleese received The Northern Ireland Tolerantia Award for "her commitment to equal treatment and the dignity of LGB&T people for over four decades".<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://tolerantia-award.eu/en/the-award-winners-of-europeans-tolerantia-price-2006-2009/belfast-2016/ | title=Belfast 2016 – Tolerantia-Award | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=30 September 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930012236/http://tolerantia-award.eu/en/the-award-winners-of-europeans-tolerantia-price-2006-2009/belfast-2016/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In August 2018 McAleese was awarded the Vanguard Award at the GAZE LGBT Festival in Dublin.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0806/983471-mary-mcaleese-award/|title = Church's teachings on homosexuality 'evil' – McAleese|journal = RTÉ News|date = 6 August 2018|last1 = Connor|first1 = Dyane|access-date = 22 November 2019|archive-date = 9 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191109212233/https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0806/983471-mary-mcaleese-award/|url-status = live}}</ref>